10 Ensnared - Part 3 (2/2)
”I'm just thinking, right? If those rumors are true, then what do you have to gain from Scarlet and I breaking up? Well, if you think about it for more than two seconds it's already kind of obvious, isn't it?”
”I don't care about fake rumors or gossip and neither should you. I'm only here to ask that you do everyone a favor and drop Scarlet today. Or else…”
He lifts his fist slightly above his shoulder for a moment.
And then suddenly, with almost no warning, he slams it into one of the lockers with every ounce of force he can muster into his arm. A thunderous, metallic sound echoes through the changing room. In fact it was so boisterous that it almost felt alive. A roar of his determination to not let me have Scarlet anymore.
The hands that were drying my body had completely frozen up.
”Look, I think I'm being nicer than I have to be by asking. Seeing the two of you together kinda pissed me off yesterday, y'know?
Seriously..?
”You get the position you're in now, don't you?”
This is… More worrying than I thought.
After completely drying my body, I sling my towel over my shoulder and face him.
”I'm sorry, but I really can't do it. It's way more complicated than you think it is.”
”Huuuh? You're just talking out of your ass, aren't you?”
”Well, maybe I am. Either way, I don't see myself breaking up with her at the moment.”
He grins.
It almost feels as if he prefers that I'm being defiant about it to begin with.
”Haaah, that's how you're gonna play it huh? All right, all right. Fair enough. I'll stop pestering you about it. But this is probably gonna pan out for you worse in the long run, y'know? Well, just don't beat yourself up about it later.”
After leaving me with those words, he snickers to himself like some sort of third-rate movie villain and walks out of the changing room.
”Haaah, that was stressful…”
Jack Bourne. He's a bit of a celebrity at this school.
He's the vocalist and lead guitarist of a band called ”Think”. The group of four came together thanks to their mutual passion for music during their first year at school when they ended up creating a huge splash in the local community. Despite only being sophomores, their talent has already granted them free use of one of the two music rooms at school whenever they so desire it.
That said, his music isn't the only source of his popularity. Jack has a bit of a reputation as a player. Rumor has it that he's already dated many of the most popular girls at this school. Judging by his narcissistic personality, it's probably nothing more than a game to him.
What's really surprising though, is that somehow, despite those slanderous rumors, he's managed to maintain his popularity with girls. To this day he's continued to date more influential students every other week. If I had to guess, I'd say that to the girls of this school, dating Jack is probably some kind of badge that validated their self-worth.
Anyway, the fact that he's interested in Scarlet can only mean one thing. She's most likely just a stepping stone for him. His end goal may just be the most popular freshman girl, Jennifer Swift.
Naturally I couldn't care less about Jennifer. She's already obsessed with the concept of wearing men as badges so dating Jack wouldn't be anything new. As a matter of fact, they'd be a match made in hell.
But if my suspicions are right and this is the guy that Scarlet has been texting all this time, then it's apparent that he is more than just validation for her. I mean, this would be her first real boyfriend, right?
For someone who feels so nervous around men to be dumped for her best friend like that…
I don't think it takes a psychology major to tell you what that could do to her.
Sheesh, this girl is too much. It feels like I'm the one who's caretaking.
Anyway, I can think about this more when the time comes.
”You guys can stop hiding now, he's gone.”
On cue, the two who were previously in the middle of a conversation with me suddenly come out from behind some lockers.
”H-haha… Hiding? Who, us? Don't be ridiculous.”
”We are samurai, Chase-dono. We would never leave our ally to fight alone.”
”Come on, if you guys were scared then you can just be honest with me. I won't blame you for it.”
The two of them stop for a moment to look at each other, then nod and turn back to me.
”W-well, the truth is…”
”It's because…”
They take a nervous gulp in unison before Nick continues.
”We didn't want him to see our d*cks!”
”… Eh?”
”Yeah! Our d*cks!”
”We don't want normies to make fun of our d*cks!”
”It's embarrassing to be shamed for our d*cks!”
”Down with d*ckshamers!”
”D*cks! D*cks! D*cks!”
”STOP SAYING D*CKS!”
Goddammit, I got caught up in their pace again.
Is that why we went into the changing room way after everyone was already done?! Talk about insecure! And besides…
”You don't have to remove your underwear in the changing room.”
”What?”
”Seriously?!”
I lift my palm up to my face and shake my head.
”Seriously. You really don't have to remove your underwear if you don't want to. In fact most people don't. It's way weirder to stay back just to shower naked and alone.”
The two of them end up breathing a heavy sigh of relief.
”Haha, silly us. Thank you once again, Chase-dono. Still though…”
Sig scratches his chin while looking back at the door.
”What was up with that conversation, though? We couldn't catch most of it, but he seemed to want you and Scarlet to break up. What's up with that?”
”Ah, yeah. I figured guys like that would start showing up. You don't have to worry about me though, I'll be fine.”
”Woooow, really? I guess you have everything under control, huh? As expected of the newest member of our group… Right, Nick?”
Nick looks away for a moment.
”Y-yeah, let's leave it to Chase. Hurry up and get dressed so we can leave.”
I guess even they can be worried about me, huh? That's kind of comforting.
Seems like I've chosen some good friends after all.